


Coughing the Bouquet

by BradleyJardine



Category: IndyCar RPF
Genre: F/M, Hanahaki Disease, Language of Flowers, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-05-21
Updated: 2018-05-27
Packaged: 2019-05-09 20:21:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,488
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14722970
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BradleyJardine/pseuds/BradleyJardine
Summary: The first time Marco had it, he learnt about himself.The second time, he found the one.But the third? Mother Nature is just a bitch.





	1. Fascination

It had been rose petals with Dan, small, elegant and a deep orange, perfect for an Englishman like him now that he looked back at it. The first few times he coughed them up, Marco had tried to ignore them, still young and naive to what was wrong with him but also still in denial of how his taste could of possibly went beyond women.

He was straight, he would tell himself, swallowing the petals as best he could, trying not to think about the way his heart had raced when Dan had embraced him and ruffled his hair, congratulating him on the win in the Lights race, promising to do the same in the main race later that day. It wasn’t a crush, it was hero worship for a man who was like a big brother to him since they first met.

The petals that he struggled to find places to hide before his dad came in, checking if he was ready to head back home, were saying otherwise.

Soon he learned the name of his problem; Hanahaki, the coughing petal disease. He wanted to laugh at the cause, one sided love, as if a disease could work like that.

Instead he coughed up more rose petals.

For a few months he stubbornly continued to hide the truth. It wouldn’t be fair on Dan or Susie to confess this to the Englishman in the hopes that his feelings were returned, especially as Dan was on his way to the championship. The second option, surgery, was out too. There was no way he could go through the procedure without someone finding out. Then there was the consequences of the surgery, lost of feelings for the person. Some websites Marco had looked at just said it was just the romantic ones that cause the problem in the first place while others implied there would be a greater cost, depending on how long the disease had been allowed to fester.

Even if, by some miracle, nobody heard about the surgery, his change in attitude towards Dan would be obvious to all.

That left a final solution, death by choking on petals, like out of one of the tedious gothic poetry books he had to read in high school for English just before graduating in the summer.

Then the news broke, he was moving up to the IndyCar team but only because Dan was leaving it for another.

The coughing fits got worse after that.

When Bryan had found him, hiding behind the trucks during testing, he had refused to say anything. Not that he could of said much even if he wanted to thanks to sheer number of petals he was heaving as he cried.

Dario gave him a helmet to throw up in while Tony carried him into the nearest motorhome.

He could only cry harder as they talked about petals they had seen throughout the season, matching the ones escaping him. All that effort to hide it and he messed up. He wanted to ask, no, beg them not to tell his dad but he couldn’t. It was as if his throat had been filled with thorns and there was blood staining the petals he coughed up now.

Then Dan arrived as the others began to panic over if there was enough time to get him to the medical centre never mind a hospital. Even at first touch, the Englishman grasping his hand, Marco could feel air actually fill his lungs. “Why didn’t you say anything you numpty?” Came the gentle tease before their lips locked, Dan holding him close.

By the time they broke the kiss, there was no more petals in his mouth, only a few specks of blood on their lips to hint at what had happened.

He had returned his feelings and, for the first time in nearly half a year, Marco could breath normally once more.

When Dan died, Tony, Bryan and Dario had taken turns watching over him, worried that the disease might return. It was rumoured to do that to those in mourning.

It didn’t but Marco would of been lying if there wasn’t a small part of him wishing it did as he struggled with his grief.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The Hanahaki Disease is a fictonial disease where the sufferer coughs up flower petals due to one sided love. The only cures are if the person of desire returns the feelings, surgery (though this is at the cost of their feelings toward the person, sometimes more) or death by drowning in petals.
> 
> In the flower language, the orange rose represents desire and excitement of feelings evolving from friendship to romantic.


	2. Kindred Spirit

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It’s only been a few months when it happened again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for the comments on the first chapter, I promise this will get more sweet/fluffy from here on out.

For Marta it was heather, white bell flowers that were too small to be individual petals and tickled his throat as they came up. He almost throttled a drunk James when he got excited at the sight, nearly alerting Tony (and, by proxy, Dario and Bryan) to his situation.

“What do you mean this isn’t the first time you had this and the last time you nearly died?!”

“James! Will you shut up!” He hissed, any attempt at looking threatening lost as he coughed up a few more, “I was eighteen and realising I wasn’t as straight as I thought, I freaked.”

There was a series of small ohs from the Canadian, slowly realising what it all meant, before frowning, “I thought you could only get it once?”

Marco doesn’t answer that question, instead threatening to never let him stay in the best guestroom at the house if word gets back to Tony and the others.

It’d been over five years since the rose petals, since the start of a whirlwind romance with Dan and only a few months since he left them.

Through his research, he managed to find a few references to people having second, or even a third or fourth, bout of Hanahaki, always a different flora from the first time but almost all opting for the surgery straight away.

He doesn’t want the surgery, at least, it’s not his first choice.

He likes Marta, likes the idea of being with her and even growing old with her. He just needed to figure out how to approach her without pressuring her with his situation.

“Invite her to here, well, not _here_ , here, but you know what I mean. To a race.” A far more sober James suggested a few weeks later, lying on Marco’s hotel bed in St Pete, his own room not yet ready. “You know, if I hadn’t seen you cough it up like a hair ball...” he trailed off, admiring the flower he currently had balanced on his pinky.

Marco promised he could keep one if he hides the evidence of the rest as he organised to see Susie before the service.

He needs her blessing as much as he needs to swear to her that he won’t forget Dan.

She just smiled, kissing his head while he cradled Sebastian, the toddler looking very pleased with himself as he admired the flowers in his hands. “He was your first love, this probably would of been happening even if he was here.”

It was only when Tony dragged him off for a lecturing from Dario and Bryan does it even occur to Marco that she would of told them.

Even though they seem satisfied with his, well James’, plan, it doesn’t stop Dario slapping the back of his head for thinking he could keep this from them like he did the last time. They also give him a deadline, start of June, before they’ll take him to a hospital themselves.

Two months? He could do this.

Marta came to the races, they flirted throughout the weekend and, for the rest of the week, he coughed up heather.

James suggested they rename it the introvert cough because clearly Marco isn’t flirting right if she isn’t giving him some clue to how she really feels.

Soon it’s May, it’s Indy.

The first Indy without Dan.

Marco becomes obsessed, he won’t win it to break the ‘curse’ on his family.

He’ll win it for Dan, declared as much on the team radio.

He’s out with 13 laps to go.

There’s a voice at the back of his head, wondering if this is the same truck he hid behind all those years ago, crying once more. He’s pretty sure some of heather he had coughed up just now are tinged orange as if to taunt him too.

When a hand touches his shoulder, he froze, not sure what to do at first, before eventually looking up.

It’s Marta.

She smiled gently before crouching down in front of him, pressing her head against his. “Marissa told me about Dan and how much he meant to you.” She said softly before kissing him.

The tickle at the back of his throat has disappeared by the time they part, his fingers entangled with hers as they get up.

It doesn’t take long for Marta to move in with him, for her presence to be known throughout the house. It took Marco four years to get down on one knee however, and another year to finally tie the knot.

He can’t help the smile as he sees the sprig of heather within the bouquet as she walks down the aisle, matching the one in his lapel.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> White heather symbolizes protection, good luck and wishes coming true, much like a marriage.


End file.
